An ancient trade
The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers was awarded its Royal Charter in 1670, but is first recorded as a trade association for the makers of pattens in 1379. The trade itself dates from the 12th century or earlier.
Pattens were protective wooden and metal overshoes, worn strapped beneath ordinary shoes to raise the wearer above the mud, water and filth of medieval streets. For centuries their manufacture was a recognised City craft, and the pattenmakers organised themselves as a ‘mystery’ — a guild — to regulate the trade.
Though the original craft has largely disappeared, the Company endures. Today it is an important supporter of the footwear sector, and its members are drawn from that industry, from facilities management and the built environment, from the armed services and from many other walks of City life.